After the capture of Kherson, the path of the Russian army to Odessa seemed easy. The only serious obstacle was the Southern Bug River. However, near the city of Voznesensk, it was crossed over a convenient bridge, and the Russian tank column headed there to take up a position on the other bank. There were no significant units of Ukrainian troops in this direction against the advancing army.
However, residents of Voznesensk, a small town of about 35,000, seem to disagree with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that they should be “liberated” from Russia.
Instead of greeting the Russian army with flowers, they defeated it. The effort, which involved everyone – men, women, children, elderly people from a city where most people make their living from agriculture, reports the BBC.
CCTV cameras captured the moment a Russian tank column entered the city, heading for a strategically important bridge that would provide a route to Odessa.
However, the Ascensionites had already set a trap. The streets are blocked by seemingly random piles of rubbish or building materials, leading the Russians into an ambush.
“It was a huge effort from all over the city,” a local store manager told the BBC. “I’ve never seen people so united.”
When Russian troops approached the bridge, the locals blew it up.
The ambush involved relatively few Ukrainian army soldiers, but armed with modern man-portable laser-guided anti-tank missile systems. Their action is destructive. Ukrainian soldiers destroy almost all Russian armored vehicles.
The battle lasted two days and ended with the defeat of the Russian troops.
This is perhaps the heaviest combat loss for the Russian army since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, reports the BBC.